Conventionally, redistribution of an ethylenic double bond (metathesis reaction) using a carbene complex represented by the following formula 4:
wherein M is selected from the group consisting of Os and Ru, X1 and X2 are each independently selected from anionic ligands, L1 and L2 are each independently selected from neutral electron donors, and R23 is selected from a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, is widely known (e.g., JP-A-11-510807). While a ruthenium carbene complex of the following formula 5:
wherein X1, X2, L1, L2 and R23 are as defined above, which is a complex of the formula 4 wherein M is Ru (ruthenium), is generally said to be stable, it is associated with a problem in that it is deactivated with oxygen or peroxide. The present inventors studied various aspects of a ring-opening metathesis polymerization reaction of a cyclic olefin using a ruthenium carbene complex as a catalyst, and found that the deactivation of the ruthenium carbene complex with oxygen or peroxide decreased the efficiency of the polymerization reaction.
In view of the above-mentioned situation, the problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a ring-opening metathesis polymer of a cyclic olefin with higher catalyst efficiency by the use of a ruthenium carbene complex as a catalyst.